Official Panasonic ST50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 297

Ya im also having trouble figuring out the correct gamma for 60" - almost everyone says 2.4 but using gamma calibration (WoW disk for eg) seems to point to 2.2

I find some content is too dark at 2.4, but then again maybe thats the intended gamma lol

Anyone know how to correctly set gamma? Right now im using 2.4 2D and 2.2 3D...wondering if i should bring them down a notch

Gamma IMO adjust much to drastically from decimal to decimal. Gamma should be set first THEN all advanced color options. Some may disagree but I found this to be easier to adjust after major picture settings are in place first.

Only thing I can say from my experience is when I ran the CalMAN tutorial workflows 2.4 was read at 2.2 from the colorimeter and software. So without that I think you'll have to use your eyes to judge what's best.

Switching between 2.4 and 2.6 in most scenes made a small difference, but 2.4 looks correct, in terms of blacks and shadow detail, to me anyway.

edit: I have the 60ST50.
Edited by dallows - 2/13/13 at 10:03am

Seems like the only time daytime viewing affects me is when I'm watching movies and any dark scenes. You're not going to get this watching sports (unless you watched the super bowl recently *snicker*) So I think daytime sports viewing on plasma is excellent. If anything you want it for the motion.

No, if I believe the Panasonic specs.

Where did you find the specs?

Thanks! I never would have thought of that. Isnt the internet great!?

Hey folks,

I have a rather old Panasonic receiver without HDMI but two Opticals. I'm wondering if the Optical Out on my TV (ST50) will pass the surround signals from each HDMI input on the TV.

Backstory: I have an XBOX, PC, Cable Box, and now a Panny Blu Ray player that's all S/PDIF and hotswapping them is annoying. In a perfect world I get a new receiver with HDMI (arc?) but until then I';m wondering if there's a cheaper solution.

Thanks Randy

My primary concern was the BluRay player I just received. It's a Panasonic as well and sync'd up via the Vierra stuff and detected that it was connected to a Panny TV. One would think that would side-step any "copyright" issues.

Is there anything on the tv that the bdp does not have? I would think that all the apps are the same and probably better on the bdp.
I just read your previous post again and understand. You cannot use the tv as an "hdmi switch" if you will and get 5.1 from external sources. You are stuck running optical from each source to the avr and switching manually when necessary.
Edited by Bond 007 - 2/13/13 at 6:30pm

Hi guys, just go the Tc-P50ST50 and love it, have the contrast on 50 for the first 200 hours. Sorry if the was talked about but the TV pops bright during hockey and basketball games, heard the Samsung had this issue and was trying to fix it with firmware. Any one hear of this with this TV... Thanks

can someone fill me in with how these tv's are behaving with bright background like a hockey game? I am trying to go through the thread to see how the sets have been doing over time but the sheer volume of posts makes it difficult. Searching was inconclusive.

Were the issues reported technically "fbr" or some other matter? I think the camera flash effect is a separate issue?

thanks.

There have been some complaints about hockey on plasma sets incl. ST50 but I am not sure what the complaint is. I see that there are camera flashes bouncing off the glass around the rink, yes these are more pronounced vs. LCD. Some have mentioned brightness changes, due to power consumption protection on plasmas, but I have not been able to witness that on my set.

Keep in mind there are several settings which may help or hurt.
There is CATS which is automatic dimming based on room brightness (possibly bright screen could target this?).
So you may want to set CATS=OFF to stop this.

Then under SETUP you can set ECO power Saving to Power Saving mode.
I don't know if this setting help or hurts, but you might want to try using Power Saving mode to prevent dimming due to excessive power is consumed. You could increase CONTRAST to compensate for the dimmer screen in Power Savings mode.

I have more ideas but this is start.

yeah.My biggest thoughts right now are that filter and how much to me it looks like the LGLW5600 edge lit LED tv when I tried it. There just seems to be a clarity difference to my eye, but it does keep the blacks looking real good.thank you
Edited by chrinbavs - 2/14/13 at 1:21am

Hey fellas. I continue to re-discover all my blu-ray content, everything old is new again. Tremendous.

One minor quirk: when I watch the credits at the end of a movie, the text flickers in an odd way. This is true whether it's white text on a black background as is what's typical or a lower-contrast scenario such as the black-on-tan credits at the end of the movie, Up.

I will take this 'issue' with a smile, as my set is quiet, it has exhibited zero image retention (something I would never have expected, let's see if it lasts), and its picture quality makes my toes curl. Still I've never seen anybody mention the flickery-text thing. Does this not happen to anybody else's unit? Mine was built in December, if it matters.

Yes. You are not alone.

I was reading another forum on here, and have seen it in several others, that mention VUDU. Does anyone have experience with it? Is it just a service through which one can rent movies by paying on a per-movie basis, i.e. no monthly fee like Netflix or Amazon (technically an annual fee for the free stuff and pay-per-movie)? How is the quality?

I am somewhat confused by their site. When I go to Devices>Blu-ray/TV>Is my device VUDU-enabled?>HDTV>Panasonic all that I see listed is the TC-P55ST50. I have the 60". I don't see why the 60 (or any other size) ST would not have it if the 55 does. Can anyone confirm? I know that I can get it via PS3, XBOX 360, or Roku. I was just curious if the TV can as well.

I’m betting this is discussed here elsewhere, but Vudu is owned by Walmart – has ‘new releases’ sometimes not even available on disc yet that you can rent or purchase and have only a copy ‘in the cloud.’

I believe I’ve read that they use a 2 pass scan encoding that is superior to others, but that may have been somebody talking on the internet. It does have Dolby Surround which I see more of on Netflix now possibly or I never noticed it before.

I’ve seen some complaints on here about Netflix quality not being what it used to be (picture quality) – so, maybe Vudu is only as good as what Netflix used to be and is now offering as their Super HD whatever they are doing now. IDK

I like Vudu personally for the instant gratification factor, but it’s certainly NOT cheap. $6 for a 1080p rental and/or $22 for the 1080p purchase vs. what would probably cost you under $10 on Amazon for the Blu-ray. It has a sorta new tech appeal to it, but if you’re picky about absolute quality it likely doesn’t stack up against owning the disc that might come with an Ultraviolet copy anyway that you could stream through Vudu for FREE!

No kiddin'! Well, thanks

This happens when you feed the ST50 a 24p source and your ST50's '24p direct in' setting is set to 60Hz. This is one of the artifacts that occur when the ST50 converts 24p to 60Hz. If you output 60Hz from your player instead (there should be an option to do so), it will force the player to convert 24p to 60Hz instead of the ST50 and the flicker will probably go away; but there might be noticeably more judder with this setup. Personally I live with the minor artifacts that occur when the ST50 converts 24p to 60Hz because it's noticeably smoother to me, but it will depend on your player and how well it converts 24p to 60Hz.

REALLY. See, I never really understood those relationships. I use a PS3 to play blu-rays and I'm not sure what it's set to do, currently.

I'm completely willing to tolerate this artifact, but I'm really glad I understand what's going on. Thank you very much

The PS3 is most likely set to Automatic, which will probably make the PS3 output 24p (I'm not sure as I use my HTPC to play movies). Go to the PS3's Video settings and change the BD 1080p 24 Hz options from Automatic to Off or Disabled... this should force the PS3 to output 60Hz instead and you can compare. This should remove the artifacts in scrolling credits or when bright objects pan across the screen. If you prefer to have the ST50 convert 24p to 60Hz, then set it back to Automatic or Enabled/On.

A-haaaa... aha. Brilliant. I'm not sure which mode has a more pleasing result overall--it isn't night-and day. Still, now I know where to change settings if i want to experiment.

Thanks, Rahzel.

HDTBill thanks, I will check those great tips you gave me. When I first got the set I used the CNET settings and don't remember seeing the pop, so it may be the contrast. Thanks again....

Does anyone here think the st60 will be better than the vt50.. Blacks ect...?

I for one don't think so. I'm sure it will be good but won't best the VT50 IMHO.

Cam

Just landed myself in sort of the same boat; older receiver with too few optical inputs for the tv, but added a new Panny Blu-ray player and it’s now occupying the old player’s optical input and providing Vudu, Netflix 5.1 surround sound.

The player’s apps might not be quite as slick as the tv’s, but they work well enough. I may even be using the television’s audio more now too actually on stereo streaming and other programming and let the receiver have a rest. This set has much better speakers than my last set anyway.

The tv can’t ‘pass-through’ anyway as stated – so, no biggie to not have it taking up an optical slot. I’m now finally seeing the beauty of a HDMI switching receiver though I have to confess. It’s taken this long though before my old receiver has run out of inputs – never would have dreamed to have all these streaming devices taking up my inputs.

You know, guys, unless you have really challenging speakers to drive, or enormous spaces to drive them in (which really means very high output levels), a variety of modern receivers with all the trimmings are easily within your reach. Let me recommend accessories4less.com. They've served me and my friends very well. Their refurbs are legit (can't tell them apart from new units, except from their packaging) and they often feature the low price on new units too.

/unpaid shillery